| The purpose of this study was to examine the structure and policies of a contemporary western design museum. In so doing, the role of design in society, the characteristics that distinguish design from art, and the history of design were explored, and selected existing design museums throughout the world were reviewed. In addition, the notions of design and design museums were defined and discussed in the context of museums and socio-cultural studies, particularly in relation to why and how design museums have shaped and been shaped by cultural and political knowledge in Europe and the United States.; The exemplar museum chosen for onsite research was the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City. As a design museum that has provided support, education, exhibitions, employment, and empowerment to designers since the early 1970s, the Cooper-Hewitt provided a fitting resource for the development of a grounded theory of design museums that culminated in description of the design museum's policies and practices, the first step in looking for best practices.; Established qualitative research methods were used to create a conceptual framework from which to approach the research questions and to provide an ethnographic tool guiding immersion, description, and interpretation. The researcher functioned as the primary research instrument, using the tools of onsite observation, in-depth interviews, and document analysis.; The study indicated as that represented by the Cooper-Hewitt, a design museum is an important arena for the formation of social identity. Further, a design museum is distinct from other forms of museums in scope and purpose. A design museum seeks to demonstrate how design and the built environment impact the social, cultural, historical, aesthetical, and economic wellbeing of society. It honors and lends recognition to past design achievements, and serves as an educational resource for design students and professionals, as well as the community at large. At the same time, a design museum can benefit from the use of marketing strategies to expand their reach and further its missions. Such steps are important, since design museums have become part of a new mode of museum that both reflects and generates culture.; The final generated concepts from this study describe best practices related to different, fundamental aspects of a design museum: (1) What to present in a design museum, (2) What education to provide in a design museum, and (3) What to collect in a design museum. More specifically, in observing and reflecting on a project from its beginning to its final execution, certain major issues became apparent. Among these issues were the role and goal of design exhibitions, the role of curators, exhibition policies and guidelines, interaction among departments, the role of design education, a constructivist approach, effectiveness of the process of designing, purpose of design education, diverse programs for diverse audiences, rationale for collections design work, categorization and concentration areas of the collection, and the collections policy. In all, this study makes a significant contribution toward the eventual development of design museums. |
